It is hard to say which problems need attention in schools when there are obviously a prodigious number of them that can be named off the top of someone's head, but from the articles I have read alienation among students is obviously a salient issue in schools.  A relevant example would be the Colombine shooting, which many experts said was due to the alienation of the perpetrators in school.  Some of the problems that tend to escalate when a student is alienated from school are under-achievement, substance abuse, crime (homicide and suicide), and truancy.  Alienation is such a serious problem that participation, when they are in class, decreases to a minimum, and along with this the literacy level decreases too.

     Students that have problems with alienation tend to have limited social and emotional skills. This does not help the student develop self esteem because all of their interactions with other students and teachers tend to be awkward and produce negative results (Salvatore, 1979).  Boys with this problem tend to become violent, due to the lack of understanding when they try to reach out, and girls tend to become pregnant at a young age.  When these boys become violent the school system can let them down by depending on the police in every case. The school fails to try to come up with any type of prevention for this violence because they figure that the police will deal with it (1999). These students also might retain material in a way that deviates from the traditional method of reading and listening. For example, these students might learn better tactically or by trying the new thing out. The different way that these students learn might cause problems in the school where the teacher as well as the student might lose patience or tease them.

     There have been four dimensions mentioned that encompass alienation; powerlessness, meaningless, normlessness, and social estrangement.  Powerlessness is based on the fact that there is a discrepancy between the value placed on a goal and the efficacy attached to the ability to complete this goal.  Meaninglessness refers to the inability to understand the relationship between their performance in school at this point in time with their success in the future.  Normlessness stipulates that socially unacceptable behavior is the way for students to reach their goals.  Social estrangement is when students reject offers of friendship from teachers or students. These four dimensions of alienation are used as a guideline for teachers to assess how probable it is that their students are already alienated or on the way to becoming so (Mau, 1992).

     In many of these cases the students are alienated mainly because the school system has let them down in some way or another (Blumenkrantz). For example, many schools have inadequate assessment to determine if the students are learning at the correct pace and if they are learning at the same pace as other students. Schools also tend to have curriculum that isn't relevant to the student or amenable to the teacher's style.  The teacher and staff attitude in general might not be tolerant to alienated kids and the structure of the educational system in the school might not fit with these students (Flint). A good example of this would be the school that pushes athletics above all else. Schools that have financial systems that are connected to sponsorship tend to allow athletes more privileges, like leaving school early.  This tends to cultivate low self esteem in those students that don't have any athletic prowess.

     The size of the school is an issue that many people say leads to alienation, but many people also say that has no effect on alienation.   One of the things that can happen in large schools is that the student might receive very little personal attention and, therefore, the students might feel alienated.

     The problems that lead to alienation aren't demarcated strictly within the school boundaries; families and life experiences contribute to this as well.  Many of these kids tend to come from single parent families with low SES backgrounds. These kids also tend to have family members that think of school as a waste of time and as taking away from the kids earning potential.  The parents tend to provide little support for the kids; this is seen when the kids are failing and not attending school and the parent doesn't notice until three weeks later.  In many instances when these children complain that the teachers treated them unfairly by being more critical of their work or contributions than with other students the parents had no knowledge of this because they never cared enough to ask. The age at which these children face these obstacles plays a part in whether it turns into alienation or not; adolescence tends to be a turbulent time in a child’s life where they have to face identity issues. When the obstacles come along during this stage it can sometimes be too much to handle at one time (Gillespie, 1999).

     One way to help mitigate the potential for alienation in schools would be by improving the school climate. A better climate can be produced by having more teachers that are viewed as caring and by having an educational policy that encourages students efforts and accomplishments.  Another thing that schools can do to help would be to realize that each student is different and, therefore, learns in a different way too.  Some of the ways that this can be done is by teaching teachers and administrators basic communication skills and ways to help each student learn in their best way while still encouraging them to succeed.  Teachers can model cooperative behavior for these kids so that way they can make more friends and by doing so increase their self esteem. Teachers can also show children more socially appropriate language and behaviors so that way the students will be accepted by more people.

     Due to the fact that alienation is really a dispute between the individual and society, because society says that to be accepted and to do well in life you have to participate in life not withdraw from it, the student must learn how to become a part of society (Affinnih, 1997).  Society will not change for a small percentage that does not want to fit in, so that small percentage must change for society.  Alienated students are viewed as radicals by most of society because of the fact that alienation is not the norm, so maybe another solution would be for teachers to educate other students as to the fact that every student doesn't have to interact in the same way they do.

     The first type of interventions for alienated kids would be cooperative learning, cross-age tutoring and peer counseling.  These interventions are designed to produce optimal relations with other students, to provide for better relations with teachers, and to help students feel more like they are a part of the school system.  Cooperative learning is  based on group work where students learn to develop communication and interpersonal skills, which helps cognitive development.  Cross-age tutoring is a way for these students to help others and to gain respect and more self esteem by tutoring others.  Peer counseling helps the students see that they are not alone in their feelings and that other kids are struggling too.

     Other interventions used include behavioral contracts, study skills groups, time management training, and motivational groups. Behavioral contracts are agreements between the student and some adult that delineates the exact goals that the student is expected to reach, how long this is expected to take, and how this will be reinforced (Ray).  Other things can be done to help improve the students self esteem, like giving out an award for the most improved student to a student that has little chance of receiving an award in any other way. Initiating parent involvement in some of these kids that have parents that seldom show an interest in their progress can also be a quick way to help increase the students self esteem.

     The last interventions that I will mention here would be the skills for living course, community volunteer projects, making more meaningful curriculums, and an appeals process. The skills for living course is exactly what it sounds like, teaching children how to be better parents, better friends, better wives, and how to manage money and careers in the best way possible.  Volunteer projects help the students feel needed and increases their self esteem when they see how much help they were.  Better curriculums would be where special topics of interest are presented in a course form every once in a while so that way students feel like they are having some input in the subjects they learn. An appeals procedure allows the students to feel like they have a part in the way the school is ran and if they have any feelings of injustice they have somewhere to present their case (Tucker-Ladd, 1990).

     In conclusion, it is clear alienation is a common problem in the school system. Both a student’s external environment away from the classroom, as well as the surroundings while at school, can have an impact on behavior and alienation tendency.  It is important to identify those students that are or may be alienated and apply an intervention technique to minimize the effect. It is also imperative teachers establish a conducive environment at school which prevents the seeds of alienation from flowering. Society as a whole will not be able to have a short term effect on alienation, but the individual contributions of teachers will accumulate to shift the alienation spectrum further from the norm.

Affinnih, Y., “A Critical Reexamination of Alienation”, Social Science Journal, 1997, Vol. 34, Issue 3, p383, 5p

Blumenkrantz, D., “Alienation and Education: A Model for Empirical Study”

Flint, P., "Helping Alienated Students", Preventing Juvenile Crime, p41, 2p

Gillespie, N., “Crimes Against Students”, Reason, Jul99, Vol 31, Issue 3, p4, 2p

Mau, R., “The Validity and Devolution of a Concept: Student Alienation”, Adolescence, Fall92, Vol27, Issue 107, p731, 11p

Ray, J., “Radicalism and Alienation”, Journal of Social Psychology, 127(2), 219-220

Salvatore, M., “An Alienation Test”, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Fall, 1979, Vol 19, No 4

Tucker-Ladd, P., “Alienated Adolescents: How Can Schools Help?”, Clearing House, Nov/Dec90, Vol. 64, Issue 2, p112, 3p

“Climate of Alienation Can Trigger Violence”, USA Today Magazine, Dec 99, Vol 128, Issue 2655, p12, 2p
 
 

Health and Health Care in Schools, September 2000, www.healthinschools.org/ejournal/september_2.htm

Improving Academic Achievement: What School Counselors Can Do  www.ericcass.uncg.edu/digest/brown.html

Influence on Teens by Work, Friends www.newswise.com/articles/1999/4/teen.ude.html

Retention & Participation Plan www.eddept.wa.edu.au/saer/policy/rapintro.htm

Teachers Taught To Cope With Student Alienation , May 1999, www.fultondailynews.com/resources/schoolviolence/0518alienation.shtml

The Virtues of Large Schools, www.-tech.mit.edu/V119/N23/col23julia2.23c.html

Tragedy at Littleton Forces Students and Teachers to Watch for Alienation www.metroactive.com/papers/campbell.reporter/04.28.99/littleton-9917.html